Pep Guardiola REACTS to Xavi's decision to resign as Barcelona coach

Pep Guardiola has spoken out on Xavi's decision to step down from his position at the end of the season. Pep compared his time at Barça to his current environment at Manchester City.

MORETALKFCB - @MoreTalkFCB

#Guardiola #Xavi #Barcelona #Coach

[innerpeace_memo]

To be fair our squad has changed a lot since the last season, 11 players left. Xavi wanted fast wingers and wanted to play single pivot when he first came and we have totally different players know. Dembele, Abde, Traore etc. Know only real 1vs1 player is the 16 year old Jamal

[prannoy]

Having seen you scream and moan about how Xavi has handled the recent losses in the media, let’s not forget your critique also added to the noise. The same noise that Xavi is complaining about right now.

[PebroGon]

I'm quite puzzled tbh.. what happened to our defenders? Especially Araujo. He was really sharp but now he seems so out of focus and it's really devastating to witness.. Could it be that he isn't getting paid his full salary so it's part of the reason why he's been under performing this season?

[johnm]

All y’all preaching Xavi out but now backtracking since you got what you wanted is some toxic work! The fan base has to do better as a whole

[lebronbrew]

It’s not even about the club but we have the most dumbest and impatient fans and supporters. The club it’s self doesn’t carry a lot of pressure it’s the fans

[princekester]

Goat of upload keep doing the good work your voice is heard

[kanishkbakshi]

I think, more than Xavi, it is the fault of the players. We have conceded the majority of the goals due to individual errors. Which is very significant compared to tactics from Xavi. He only got roughly 2.5 years as coach of Barcelona, while it took both Klopp and Pep time to build the team and provide a structure and identity to the team. We have upcoming players from La Masia who are so good and understand Xavi and his tactics with good application and implementation on the field. I think, Xavi should have stayed for the betterment of the future of Barcelona and bringing back the Barca DNA in a couple years time.

[pboyiyinbor]

It not just pressure but unrealistic demands in situations that the coach can't do anything abt like the club finances. We are playing kids and signing free transfer in players who has passed their time or not on the level required. This club did not back xavi for a DM. We all can see how that position is affecting the team balance.

[PP]

Key point I picked up on was also that Pep Guardiola said he loves it at Man City because apart from everything he most importantly has a hierarchy / board / ownership that supports him and player changes was supported meaning he could bring in reinforcements whenever someone left or not but most importantly Man City owners give Pep and Co the freedom and thats the key word.

So say what you want about the media and the press but its refreshing to have a board and management system that doesn't add to the pressure or makes things complicated for you to coach. So in the end, Xavi is leaving because the current board at FC Barcelona sucks or don't really have long term fixes and the financial situation unless a buyout is done will take quite some time to be resolved. Plain and simple and this also applies to any big name or big potential coaches whom most likely will stay away from FC Barcelona.

In the end its going to be either Marquez or Motta or if you like old school Claudio Raineri, Marcelo Lippi, Sven Goran Erickson....etc Don't expect big name coaches with continuing legacy or big potential coaches who wants a legacy to just suddenly come over to Barcelona as the way things stand.

[andellegaming]

Pressure!!!! You have to be mentally strong

[CG]

There hasn't been cohesion since the start of the season. Between injuries and line up changes, it has been hard to get everyone on the same page. Regardless, the players are on the field so they need to produce in order for the team to succeed.

[BarcaBasto]

*GAVI* asap must be given the
captain-band & never change

STATEMENT MADE
*#YOUNGGENERAL*

[sibusisomabizela]

I don't even know who the president of Premier League is, but in Spain, it's Tebas.

[youniskhan]

Pep knows the feeling he ignored it and do his own thing💯🔥

[orciliobarrama]

The problem is wanting instant success !! Instead of growing a strong base we where MES QUI UN CLUB because we stickied together now it just childish demands and plastic fans

[md]

I feel that the biggest thing holding back the club is the reluctance to accept an evolution in the playing style.

Even Pep Guardiola's Man City don't play exactly like prime Barcelona (2008-2012). His Bayern Munich team was also not a carbon copy. Pep has changed his tactics on the basis of available players and intensity of the league. The core principle is still total football but he's made required adjustments. This is why he's still regarded as the best manager in the world.

Contrast this with the playing philosophy of the Spanish national team. Every incoming coach is expected to implement tiki-taka even when the player personnel isn't suitable for it and other teams have learned how to defeat this system. We saw it with the Netherlands hammering Spain 5-1 in the 2014 World Cup. Since winning the 2012 Euros, Spain haven't come close to looking like serious contenders for a prestigious tournament (World Cup and Euros).

We saw the foolishness of our own fanbase when our toxic fan pages and articles contributed to the negativity around Ernesto Valverde. His team didn't play silky football but at least, Barca were serious challengers. He made it look like winning La Liga was easy. He wasn't perfect and he does bear responsibility for the capitulations in Rome and Liverpool in the Champions league. But did we hold the players equally accountable? The answer is no. We ignored the disgraceful recruitment by the club, which contributed to the mess. Just go back and look at the squad with which he beat much better teams. He had Messi, whose sheer genius papered over the cracks in the team but it does take some thinking to use Messi to his maximum ability. Valverde gave us the most complete version of Messi who created chances and scored like no other player.
But our fanbase created an image of Valverde as an inept coach who simply wasn't at the required level. I remember the toxicity created around his name.
When he was sacked, the team was at the top of the league table.

Quique Setién, a man who was supposedly obsessed with tiki-taka was brought in. The less said about his reign, the better.
Our obsession with Barca DNA resulted in the sacking of a manager who had managed to do a wonderful job with respect to the situation he was in.

Xavi is not a perfect coach. He has his weaknesses and his inexperience also shows at times. But he was subjected to ridiculous criticisms by the local media and fan pages for not playing the proper Barca way. Even when the team was winning last season, those criticisms were still there. They never took into account the team Xavi had at his disposal. One should not forget that even Pep Guardiola couldn't manage more than 4 seasons there. Even after winning a historic treble, 3 la liga titles and another champions league title, Pep felt that he couldn't handle the pressure. He has said it publicly that it's virtually impossible for a manager to stay at FC Barcelona for a long period of time.
This means that it's almost impossible to execute long term projects at Barca.

Barca have been poor this season and fan anger is understandable. But they don't address the reason behind the awful performances.
i) There is no proper CDM in the team. Without a great holding midfielder, both the attack and defense suffer. Just look at how badly Man City play when Rodri isn't available. When a super team like Man City suffer without their holding midfielder, how can we not expect a much weaker team like Barca to worsen without theirs?

ii) Ter Stegen was the sole reason why we managed to get so many 1-0 wins last season. He not only made important saves and support our playing style but also gave confidence to the defence. His injury has been devastating for us.

iii) Other injuries to key players such as Gavi and Pedri have had adverse effects on the team. Gavi brings a certain aggressiveness which has been sorely missed.

Let's hope that the club brings in a manager who can make things better. Xavi is a legend of the club. He rescued us when we were at our lowest period. He brought hope and joy back to Barca with the trophies he managed to win. If he feels that it's time to leave, we respect his decision. May he do great in all his future endeavours.

As a fanbase, it's our responsibility to support a long term project at Barca. We shouldn't call for the head of the manager just because the team isn't doing well. Let's learn to have a little more patience.

[leoprince]

Our problem started last season just after world cup, we were lucky to win laliga because we had a lot of points ahead of Madrid. We played badly until the last game which destroyed Even our mood to celebrate the trophy. Until now Xavi could not fix that problem

[davidriddick]

It’s eye opening to hear PEP say that the board at City back him and not so much at FCB. It shows that someone legendary felt the same pressures and scrutiny as Xavi has also felt. So clearly there must be INTERNAL issues that still occur, because a legend and true FCB lover like Pep would not be saying such things for no reason, good on Pep for speaking up

[BarcaBasto]

old : xavi x iniesta
new : fdj x bergvall

[ichitaka]

I understand what Pep is saying & I agree that not everything is coach’s fault & players need to give more on the field… but I don’t agree w pressure been a coach in the Barca/Spain. It’s not like Xavi never played in Barca. He was there WHOLE time as a player. He saw what Barca coaches went through. He might not saw all the political stuff, but he knows.
I’ve nothing but gratitude for Xavi coming to Barca to coach in these hard time. I hope for him to rest a bit & restart to a good new adventure next season.